Urban treasure hunting

Storage companies have a hard time getting good money for abandoned, rodent-infested sofas, rusty rototillers and an assortment of items that are unappealing even to packrats.

“Most of this stuff is junk,” said Uxbridge resident Mark Williams, one of five potential bidders at a recent storage auction at Uncle Bob’s Self-Storage in Northbridge.

Experience tells Mr. Williams he’s unlikely to find something spectacular when an auctioneer exposes a storage unit’s abandoned contents, which are available to the highest bidder. Still, that doesn’t keep him and his father-in-law, Tony Nardone of Milford, from attending auctions throughout the region. They say they have a garage full of items they’ve bought at auctions and intend to sell.

For every story of the winning bidder who realized too late that his unit contained more junk than treasure, there are stories from others who’ve found (sometimes, literally) a diamond in the rough. The knowledge that people will often abandon property that’s worth far more than the price it’s sold for at auction is what keeps bargain hunters and business owners coming back for more.

Storage unit managers, meanwhile, are relieved people like Mr. Williams and Mr. Nardone are interested in the property others leave behind. A successful auction is the quickest way for them to get reimbursed for the months of unpaid rent on the units. State law lets these businesses start the auction process a month after a customer stops paying rent, though most businesses give customers a grace period of two or three months.

“We have about 10 to 15 auctions a year,” said Melissa S. Calil, manager of Secured Self Storage in Worcester. “Our no access and auction list is bigger than it’s been in five years. People aren’t paying or they’re paying slower. I have about 30 people on a possible auction list and usually, we’ll have half that many.”

An auction doesn’t guarantee the business will get back what it’s owed, however.

“When all is said and done, sometimes, it’s not really worth it,” Ms. Calil said. “Someone may owe us $1,000 and it’ll be auctioned off for $25.”

Tracey L. Lozier, manager of Uncle Bob’s in Northbridge, was disappointed at an auction Dec. 19 in which one of the two abandoned units went for only $5. Its contents went to Blackstone resident Ron Menard, who emptied it out within an hour of the auction. He was the only person who bid on the unit, which included a bureau, rototiller, mattress and other items that weren’t visible.

A second unit, which contained a hole-filled mattress, portable grill and space heater, didn’t get a single bid.

Mr. Williams and Mr. Nardone briskly walked away from the auction, noting they haven’t had much luck recently. Mr. Williams said he bid $100 at an auction earlier in the week, only to find it’d cost more to dispose of the junk.

Mr. Nardone was reminded of other bad finds.

“We had an old sofa that mice were living in,” he said.

Ms. Lozier wouldn’t say how much she was owed on the units, but noted it was “enough that it hurts.”

If abandoned items aren’t sold for at least what the company is owed, the unpaid bill goes to a collection agency. If the storage business makes more than it was owed, the difference is returned to the defaulted customer.

“This is the part of the business I don’t like,” Ms. Lozier said, referring to the process of notifying customers their property will be auctioned. “They can pay right up until the minute before the auction, but that doesn’t happen often.”

“We had (a bidder) come in and clear out a bunch of LPs that were worth quite a bit of money,” she said. “I’ve seen brand new stuff and total junk.”

Bidders can’t pick and choose what they’d like in the storage unit. They can’t even step foot in the space, and instead, often use flashlights to get an idea of what’s there.

“You can’t say, ‘I don’t want that mattress but I want this,’ ” Ms. Erickson said. “You have to buy the whole unit, and you never know what you’re going to find.”

Ms. Erickson and other storage unit managers, however, do ask that the bidders leave behind personal items such as family photos, baby pictures and identification. She keeps them in case the original owners come back.

“When people buy the units, they don’t want someone else’s passport or pictures,” she said.

Paul Lonardo of Cranston, R.I., attends dozens of storage auctions a month. A carpenter for 28 years, he left the trade two years ago and considers the auctions his full-time job. He sells his findings on Craigslist.

He was in Uxbridge last week.

“I’ve bought anything from horse saddles to three-foot safes and diamond rings,” he said. “It’s like a treasure hunt.”

His best buy, he said, was a trailer full of unopened toys. He paid $1,900 for everything, sold $6,000 worth, and gave the rest to charity.

Mr. Lonardo was on a first-name basis with the auctioneer and the other bidders, as they generally attend the same auctions.

“These people are in the business to make money,” said Lawrence J. Mahoney, an auctioneer with Storage Auctions USA, based in Yarmouth Port. “Most of them own shops. Often, if the material’s worth $1,000, they’re probably not going to pay more than $250.”

Having worked 25 auctions a week for the last two years, Mr. Mahoney has seen people walk away with expensive art, historic letters from a sea captain during the California gold rush and antique furniture.

He’s also heard plenty of stories from bidders.

“There was this one guy in Springfield who bid on a unit that contained a bunch of videos,” Mr. Lonardo said. “He saw that one of the videos said ‘Springfield,’ so he figured it was something about the city’s history.’”

It wasn’t. Rather, it was an adult entertainment video, set in Springfield.